Hidden in the Outer Rim's shadow
by The Last Sythil
Summary: An entire Rebublic Fleet goes missing without a trace. Not long after, mysterious forces are reported to be attacking many planets on the outer rim. The Jedi Council sends Anakin, Obi-wan and Ahsoka to find out who the new enemy is. Oneshot.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"How close are we to our destination?" asked Jedi Knight Mona Ravel

"We are about two parsecs away from Grievous last known location" answered Commander Grex

"Commander, there's something showing up on our scopes" reported one of the many clones piloting the Clone battleship

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but it's coming this way and fast"

Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship, as the ship next to Mona's, the _Harmony_, exploded. Mona and many clones rushed to a window and watched as many dart-like ships sped away from the burning wreckage of the _Harmony_ and towards their ship. The ships guns opened fire, trying to destroy the ships. Mona watched as armoured warriors leapt off the dart-like ships and stuck to the ships surface. _They must have gravity-controlling boots or something _Mona thought as she ran through the ship, alerting all the Clones. She looked out another window and saw some of the warriors firing continuous black energy into the ships surface, trying to cut through it. Running to the docking bay, she ordered that fighters be sent out and that once the fighters were out, the docking bay doors would be shut.

ARC 170 fighters took off to engage the unknown enemy. Upon leaving the docking bay and heading back up to the bridge, she saw many figures pouring out of a portal that had been ripped open into space. She watched them head towards the ship and suddenly ran back towards the docking bay, as they all headed towards it. She shouted to the clone in charge of the doors to shut the doors as fast as possible. This, however, proved to be futile as hundreds, if not thousands of the figures poured into the docking bay before it was shut. The figures careened around the large docking bay, hacking off limbs and slicing double-bladed polearms through clones. Reaching for her belt, she grabbed her lightsaber, activating it. One of the enemies noticed her and shot towards her on some sort of skyboard. Even though it was wearing a sort of mask that was enabling it to breath in space, she could clearly hear a cold laughter, filled with glee. As the enemy got closer to her, she noticed it was on some sort of bladed skyboard. As it spun its double-bladed polearm around, she leapt up to it, slicing straight through it. Landing in a crouch, she watched the alien toppled from its skyboard, one half going to its left, the other to its right.

She ran back through the doors and was heading up to the bridge, when a closed door exploded open, armoured warriors running out. The warriors ran straight at her, drawing knives and other mean-looking weapons. She ducked and dodged, slicing through the warriors. As the last one brandished a sword that crackled with energy, she could tell this one wouldn't go down so easy. Acting with a great speed, it ran at her, swinging it's sword at her waist. She brought her lightsaber down to cut the weapon in half, only to be very surprised when it didn't. The warrior rolled back, pulling out a pistol of some sort. Squeezing the trigger, black energy shot out. Assuming this to be laser fire, she brought up her lightsaber to deflect it. Her assumptions correct, the energy shot back towards the warrior. Upon dodging it, the warrior leapt in front of her, stabbing his sword through the air, towards her chest. She leapt over him, in a front flip and quickly turned upon landing, thrusting her lightsaber through the chest of the warrior. The warrior fell to the ground, a circular burn mark through its chest. She was about to run back up to the brigde when a hand pulled her back She felt an immense pain in her chest and looked down to see a large blade protruding from it, her blood covering the part of the blade that was coming out of her chest. The blade was pulled back out and she fell to her knees. She felt a kick to her back and the next thing she felt was the ground. She looked up at her attacker and gasped at what she saw; a pale, leering face with a cold smile on it, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. It started laughing at her; a harsh noise that hurt her ears. Everything was getting darker and her head lolled back. The last things she noticed was that her attacker was covered in armour that looked jagged and its ears were pointed. Then everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice Ahsoka Tano hurried to the Council chamber. They had been summoned on an urgent matter; a fleet consisting of three Republican Clone Battleships had disappeared. Anakin met up with his old master, Obi-wan Kenobi. The three of them entered the Council room and bowed before the members of the Jedi Council.

"No doubt you three have heard of what has happened?" asked Master Windu

"Yes, master" answered Obi-wan

"I haven't" said Ahsoka "What's happened?"

"Two days ago, three of our ships entered the Koldern System on the Outer Rim. They were heading towards the last known location of Grievous when something happened" Anakin explained to his Padawan

"What happened then?" she asked

"We don't know. They disappeared without a trace. Among the missing is Mona Ravel"

"A lead, we now have" said Grand Master Yoda

"What have we discovered?" asked Obi-wan

"A medium sized piece of the ship, found floating in space. There are blast marks all over it and analysing droids are inspecting it. We want you three to go to them and to solve this mystery" Mace Windu answered

"At once, Master" said Anakin

The three of them bowed and exited the room. Heading down to the analysing laboratories, they talked about who the enemy may be.

"Could it be the work of the Sith?" asked Ahsoka

"No, they can't make three large ships disappear almost completely. This is something else, much bigger that we could anticipate" answered Obi-wan

The three of them reached the labs in not much time. They went to the large group of analysing droids who were looking at the piece of the ship.

"What do you know?" asked Obi-wan

"It was not the work of Separatists for sure" answered the droid in charge "It is something alien"

"Do you know of any alien races that use weapons that cause damage like that?" asked Ahsoka

"We have no lead, but there is one who might know"

"Who is it?" Anakin asked

"We don't know; he's a complete stranger. All we know is that he is alien who may have knowledge about who caused this"

"When does he arrive?"

"In about ten minutes"

"We can wait that long"

The three of them sat down on some nearby seats and waited. Ahsoka stood up after a few minutes, telling her master that she was bored. Anakin sighed and made a mental note to teach her patience. Obi-wan sat completely still, waiting for the mysterious stranger. He felt a presence entering the labs and he stood up. Anakin felt it too and he stood up, telling Ahsoka what he felt. Ahsoka sighed and said:

"Finally"

The stranger, clad head to toe in armour, walked straight to the piece of the ship and put his hand on it. He pressed a button on his wrist and the helm he was wearing hissed as the seals loosened. The stranger put his hands to his head and pulled the helm off. The three Jedi walked over to him and greeted him. The stranger turned to them and greeted them in perfect English. It was a female. She turned back to the scrap and put her hand on it again.

"Do you know what cause it?" asked Anakin "Because we don't"

Her reply consisted of taking her hand off of the part and putting in front of her face. The hand then glowed white and the first layer of the piece came off.

"A Jedi?" Ahsoka whispered to her master

"Not likely; some alien races have psychic powers. She must belong to one of those races"

"What caused it?"

"I'm still checking" answered the girl. Her voice was beautiful.

She checked the wiring and stepped back. She knew what had caused this just by looking at the blast marks but she wanted to be sure.

"I do. They are an alien race that is extremely violent and feared. In our language they are called the Druchii, which translates into all languages as 'The Dark Ones'"

"Where can we find them?"

"You will not find them; they will find you. They strike from what appears to be nowhere and disappear as fast as they appeared. They kill and take slaves for nothing but their own pleasure"

"They are a sadistic warlike race?"

"Very. They are, in truth, our cousins as a race"

"Can you find them?"

"Yes I can"

"Good, then we're coming with you"

"Very well, but do not bring clones with you; they will only succeed in attracting their attention"

"Isn't that what we want?" Ahsoka asked puzzled

"If you take a fleet to where we're going, do not expect to come back alive or at all"

"A small squad of elite troops then?"

"That would be wise but know this: They don't just kill you. Just pray they don't take you alive"

The woman walked off, telling them she would be waiting for them in her own ship at the docking bay of the Temple. The three Jedi walked off to get their elite troops and to prepare for the inevitable meeting with the so-called 'Druchii'.

Valeria walked over to her Nightwing and sighed. This wasn't going to end well. They actually wanted to go to her dark kin. She looked up at the sky; it was night. She felt a presence near her and she whirled around, drawing out her sword. She remained completely still, breathing softly. Before she could do anything, she felt a hand on her shoulder and a knife at her throat.

"You don't want to do this, don't you?" came a harsh, cold voice

"What are you doing here?"

"Coruscant is a haven for anyone, including those being chased by the Republican army and the Jedi"

"What did you do?"

"Caused the destruction of an entire Republican Fleet, leaving a single scrap of one of the ships" the voice proudly announced

"So it was you"

"No, my cousin, it wasn't me; it was another Kabal"

"You're a Poisoned Tongue, aren't you?" Valeria asked

"Very clever. The Poisoned Tongue wouldn't venture that far from the galaxy of the Imperium to kill and enslave"

"Then who would?"

"A Dark Souls warband, led by one of their High Archons; Mordred Dranovian"

"What does Malys want from me?"

"The tales of your prowess don't lie; she wants you to find and destroy leader of that warband, ensuring her a step closer to the death of the Dark Souls Supreme Archon" the voice soothed, taking it's hand off her shoulder, no doubt rubbing his fingers together and inspecting them.

"Malekith Sythil"

"Very good. If you succeed, you will be very well rewarded" said the voice, its hand placed back on her shoulder

"And if I fail or refuse to accept?"

"We put your entire Craftworld to death or enslavement. Can you live knowing that you are the cause of the deaths of so many innocents?"

"You know of its location?"

"We have our spies amongst your ranks. The Druchii have spies everywhere, including a renegade Sith. Sadly, that one is a Dark Soul"

"The results of Malys' request will be shown when I'm done"

"Very well, just remember, we can get you. Wherever you go, we can find you"

The hand was taken off her shoulder and the knife from her throat. She turned around to see a ship flying back off into the main part of the city.

"Are you okay?"

Valeria turned around to see Ahsoka standing there. Valeria sighed, a smile forming on her face.

"Yes, I'm fine"

"This is an impressive ship, what's it made out of?"

"It's called a Nightwing, made from wraithbone. It's armed with two shuriken cannons and can fly at incredible speeds"

"It's so sleek and sharp"

"My cousins have ships like them called Razorwing Jetfighters. They can fly at incredible speeds and are armed with dangerous two twin-linked Splinter Rifles or a Splinter Cannon and either two Dark Lances, weapons that are very effective on buildings and vehicles, or two Disintegrator Cannons, weapons that are very effective against infantry"

"What is the difference between you and them?"

"They have an insatiable bloodlust and an insatiable lust for souls. They feed off the pain and souls of others to stay alive. We try our best to stay out of conflict"

"So, how come we haven't heard of the 'Druchii"?

"They don't usually leave the galaxy they're found. This is one of the few times they have left that galaxy"

"Is your race in that galaxy too?"

"Yes

Ahsoka looked out at the city; it looked amazing. She heard her master and Obi-wan approaching, a small squad of elite soldiers that would come with them. The three Jedi went to their own ships whilst the clones got into a Clone Drop ship that would take them with the Jedi. Valeria got into her own ship and they took off, heading the in the same direction as the destroyed Republican fleet went in. Valeria and the group of ships went into light speed and as they entered it, Valeria wondered what she had gotten herself into.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"How far are we from the fleet's last known location?" Ahsoka asked

"A long distance"

"Sir, we're receiving an SOS" reported a clone

"Republican, Separatist or otherwise?" Obi-wan asked

"Republican. They're SOS is saying they're under attack from an unknown enemy"

"The Druchii" interjected Valeria

"Are you sure?" asked Anakin "It could be someone else"

"It could be but, nevertheless; it's most likely it is the Druchii"

"Well then, let's pull out of light speed"

The three Jedi, squad of elite clones and the Eldar Farseer pulled out of light speed into a battle. Two clone battleships were engaging the enemy ship, one was in pieces.

"That's definitely a Druchii ship!" Valeria warned

"Whoever it is, they're about to learn the consequences of attacking Republican ships" Anakin shouted, his fighter darting forwards.

"Always on the move" Obi-wan sighed

Obi-wan, Ahsoka and the clones followed Anakin into the fray, engaging Druchii ships. Valeria told them she would have to dart in and out of combat in case she was seen.

"Watch out for the ones on skyboards!" Anakin shouted

The three Jedi fighters spilt up and the clone drop ship that had the elite squad in it headed for the main hangar of the enemy ship. Anakin and the other two flew alongside the ship, taking out turrets and other guns. They soon decided to fly into the hangar with the clones. As they reached the entrance of the hangar, a missile collided with Anakin's ship, sending him spiralling down into the floor. Ahsoka and Obi-wan followed, trying to land their ships. Anakin pulled up so he wouldn't collide nose first into the floor of the hangar. His ship scraped and slid as it touched the floor. Anakin punched a button as the ship was still sliding, opening the hatch. Anakin leapt out in a front flip, activating his lightsaber. He brought it down through a Druchii warrior and the two halves of it fell to its sides. Anakin sun around, slicing another one's head clean off. Obi-wan and Ahsoka landed, leaping out of their ships, lightsabers activated. The clone drop shop of elite troops landed, depositing its cargo of elite warriors. Clones with different weapons jumped off the ship, killing Druchii in their droves. Druchii fell as Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-wan sliced their way through the Druchii. As the numbers of Druchii were quickly diminishing, two turrets, that were a fair distance apart, were manned. Valeria's Nightwing dove through the gap between the closing hangar doors and landed. She leapt out and drove her Witchblade through the face of a Druchii. Quickly pulling it out, Valeria let loose a blast of psychic energy, with destroyed one of the turrets and then quickly jumped back to avoid the fire coming from the other turret. Twin-linked Splinter Cannons; very dangerous.

Anakin leapt up on top of the second turrets and sliced the guns in half. He then drove his lightsaber through the roof of the turret. Anakin heard a scream coming from inside the turret and that told him he had silenced this turret. Ahsoka threw her lightsaber at the last Druchii and it sliced him in half. The hangar fell silent and the everyone waited for a bit so they could catch their breath.

"Well, that went well" Anakin said, cheerfully

"I wouldn't think so; there's an entire ship full of them here" Valeria pointed out

"Well, we've done this well, haven't we?" Ahsoka asked "And we've gone up against much worse things before haven't we?"

"I do have to admit, taking down the Son was harder than this" Anakin agreed

"You have yet to see their true power" Valeria warned

The clones started advancing towards the large doors that led to the massive hallways that twisted and turned throughout the ship. The three Jedi and the Farseer followed them and they entered the labyrinth hallways of the ship.

"What system of politics do the Druchii have?" Obi-wan asked

"They use the systems of Kabals. The ruling Kabal in their home is the Kabal of The Black Heart. The Druchii's Supreme Overlord is head of that Kabal. The three most powerful Kabal's in the Dark City or 'Commorragh, in our language, are The Black Heart Kabal, The Kabal of Dark Souls and The Kabal of The Poisoned Tongue"

"Are there any more?" Anakin asked

"To count the amount of Kabals there are in Commorragh is impossible but I can name a few of the high Kabals" Valeria answered

"There is the Wraithkind Kabal, the Kabal of the Last Hatred, The Kabal of the Broken Sigil, The Lords of the Iron Thorn Kabal, the Black Myriad Kabal, The Kabal of the Bleaksoul Brethren, The Kabal of the Obsidian Rose, The Kabal of the Slashed Eye, The Kabal of the Dying Sun and the Kabal of the Flayed Skull. Then you have the Wych Cults, Haemonculi Covens and Hellion gangs. The main Cult is the Cult of Strife, the main Coven is the Prophets of Flesh and the main Gang is the Ripskin gang" Valeria explained

The group rounded a corner and quickly ducked behind whatever they could find; two heavily armoured Druchii were standing at the door, holding massive swords that crackled with energy.

"Valeria, what are they?" Obi-wan asked

"Incubi; elite Druchii warriors that dedicate themselves to the perfection of the killing strike. They hone themselves for war and war alone. Do not underestimate them. Their armour is so strong, I have no doubt it would take more than one hit with you lightsabers to pierce their armour. They do, however, have a weak spot beneath the chin, where there is no armour but they will not let you get to that easily" Valeria answered

"Well, there are only two of them, so fate smiles upon us"

Anakin was about to reveal himself when footsteps were heard coming from the Incubi's right. Anakin cursed as three more Incubi turned up. Two of them stood next to the two who were there before and the fifth stood in front of the other four.

"Careful, that one at the front is a Klaivex; an Incubi squad leader and a veteran of war" Valeria warned

"I got him" Anakin whispered

The Jedi and the Clones revealed themselves and charged at the Incubi. The Incubi did not move until their enemies were almost upon them and when they did move, it was like lightning. One Incubi did and overhead swing and embedded his Klaive into the chest of a clone. Quickly pulling it out, he whipped it around and beheaded the clone. Ahsoka activated both lightsabers and duelled with the Incubi on the far left. The Incubi, though seemingly wearing heavy armour, moved with quick reflexes. She ducked a right swing and brought the lightsaber in her left hand across the Incubi's chest. The Incubi simply stumbled back as a large burn mark appeared across his chest. The Incubi laughed and jumped back at her.

The clones kept up a suppressive amount of fire on the two Incubi who were coming towards them, eventually downing one of them. The other one simply leapt over them and tried to slice off the head of the nearest clone, who ducked at the last second. Obi-wan jumped in front of the Incubi and put his palm out in front of him, using The Force to push the Incubi into the wall.

Ahsoka ducked as the Incubi she was fighting tried to slice her in half with his Klaive and quickly rose up, bringing both lightsabers through the weak spot in the Incubi's armour. The lightsabers went through his head, coming out in an 'X'. She cheered the celebration was cut short as an Incubus was thrown into her.

Anakin ducked and brought his lightsaber up to slash the Klaivex across his chest. The Klaivex stumbled back but was still unharmed. Anakin ran at him, lightsaber aiming for the head. The Klaivex brought his demiklaives up for a block and that's what happened. Anakin was leaning downwards on the demiklaives and the Klaivex was showing signs of wavering. The Klaivex though, wasn't going to die that easily. Activating the Tormentors with his mind, Anakin stumbled backwards in pain. The others looked at him and the Klaivex moved in for the kill. Ahsoka ran at the Klaivex to prevent the death of her master but she needn't have worried. The Klaivex fell forwards with the run, his head tumbling on the ground away from his body. The group looked up and saw Valeria, blood covering the sword-spear in her hand.

"Well, I can't let you have all the fun"


	4. Apologies

DISCONTINUATION!

Sorry everyone who has taken an interest in these stories but they won't be updated for a long time. I' m currently working on the final of the Sythil Trilogy and some other stuff involving the Sythil name. I will finish this story and the other one but right now, the Sythil Trilogy is constantly blocking any ideas for this story. Once again, I'm very sorry. Until next time.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Anakin plunged his lightsaber into the door and cut a large chunk out of it. The chunk fell over and the group progressed through the halls of the massive ship. This section was covered in an inky blackness and shadows that coiled and twisted up and around the legs of the group.

"Be careful, this section of the ship appears to be infested with Mandrakes" Valeria warned, stepping with caution

"What are Mandrakes?" one of the clones asked

Valeria turned faster that lightning and fired just above the shoulder of the clone who had asked that, the shrukien shard burying itself into the head of a creature which let out a hideous shriek.

"That's a Mandrake"

The clone looked shaken. Another one patted him on the shoulder and they resumed sneaking through the corridors.

"Where are these 'Mandrakes'?" Ahsoka asked

"This ship is in combat. They're most likely aboard you allies ship wreaking havoc"

"I can see the door up ahead" Anakin said, a slight chill going down his back

The group emerged out of the darkness and as soon as they emerged from a door, they were staring straight at a thing that looked half machine and half human. Nasty looking blades were attached to the arms of this thing.

"You go on ahead, I'll deal with this" Anakin said, stepping forward.

Anakin felt an arm on his shoulder and felt it pull himself being gently pulled back.

"I'll take care of it. You've never fought one of these" Valeria said

"I can handle myself"

"Go, you'll see what I'm talking about"

Valeria stepped forward and said a single word in an unknown language. Even as the word was halfway out of her mouth, the thing suddenly changed from an insentient thing to a very, _very_ sentient thing, its arms lashing out in every direction, trying to locate the source of the word. The group quickly ran as soon as the thing got close to Valeria, who was simply standing there, waiting for it. As he turned his head to face forward, he heard the clanging of what sounded like steel and a low groan that either came from Valeria or the thing. After looking at it lash out, his hopes about her winning weren't exactly the highest.

"She'll be fine Anakin" Obi-wan said, sensing Anakin's troubled thoughts.

They progressed through the ship, avoiding detection. Eventually they reached the control room but the door had already been busted open. The group entered the room to find bodies littered around the room. In front of the control panels, two figures were squaring off.

"Ischli Kuora Zlynireay Akcluro" one of them said

"Iuisda Leoiwe Kyri Ciasn" said the other

Anakin looked at Obi-wan and Ahsoka, the puzzled expression on his face matching his fellow Jedi. He looked at the clones who were trying to get it through a translator in their helmets but they just shrugged.

The wall next to them blasted open in a flash of white light as Valeria placed her hand on the wall. The two figures quickly turned to face her, shadows beginning to curl around one of them.

Valeria shouted something at them, the language she was speaking in similar to what they had been speaking. Then she proceeded in creating a bright circle around their heads, making them drop dead.

"What did you just do?" Ahsoka asked

"I destroyed their minds" Valeria responded

"What were they saying?" Obi-wan asked Valeria

"They were arguing about who should be in control of the ship"

"Sir, this one's armour isn't the same as this other one's or all the soldiers we encountered" reported Rex

"What does that mean?" Ahsoka asked

"That we have more than just a problem on our hands" Valeria said, the tone in her voice saying that she wished it wasn't so.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked Valeria, an eyebrow raised

"There's going to be a small civil war on this ship" the alien responded.


End file.
